Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Leaks They are a Leakin'

Kady O'Malley, one of Canada's only real political journalists, has announced that Conservative MP Kelly Block has revealed a leak, assuring the House that she had fired the leaker.

It wasn't just any leak, but a serious breech.

As it turns out, it wasn't just any report that Block's now former staffer had leaked, but the still confidential draft report on the Finance committee's pre-budget consultations.

According to a report tabled in the House earlier today, on November 18, 2010, her then-parliamentary assistant Russell Ullyatt "transmitted" the report to to three lobbyists: Clarke Cross, now a senior consultant at Tactix, who worked for then-Reform MPs Leon Benoit and James Lunney in the early 2000s; Tim Egan, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Canadian Gas Association; and Lynne Hamilton, Vice President for Public Affairs at GCI Group, whose experience, according to her corporate bio, includes "working with Conservative governments federally, provincially and municipally." including several Mike Harris-era ministers and the former premier himself.